Breaking free

The old has gone, the new has come.

A picture of an archaeological dig. It’s a field. The field is us. Jesus has purchased the field with His blood. He’s digging the field, poking, prodding, searching for artifacts, treasures. Breaking up the hard ground.

In the field is some sort of artifact. A bronze cylinder, beautifully inlaid with some sort of filigree pattern. It looks like a solid object. Looks are deceptive. Jesus is cleaning the object, then He begins to tap the object to remove encrusted dirt— it’s not even clear at first that it’s dirt, maybe it’s some sort of ceramic inlay, it looks like a part of the object. But no, it is dirt.

He firmly taps the object on the end. The dirt falls off like scales. It’s clear the object is a container— it has a mechanism for opening, a button, that was barely visable but can now be seen now the plaster/dirt is gone. He pushes the button. There is resistance. After being shut for so long, the object does not want to open. But Jesus is persistant. He pries open the container, just enough to let the oxygen into the container, the light in. As He does this, the resistance is less. The light and the oxygen is making the container come alive. There’s a restoration taking place inside.

Suddenly, an enormous explosion. Power. Not like normal explosion, that releases destruction. No, an explosion that releases life. An explosion that releases new life, the power to heal, the power to transform.

Matthew 13
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

As incredible as it seems, given the hardness of the ground, to all appearance, why are we of great value? Why does Jesus give everything He has just to get us… the hard, parched field in the middle of nowhere?

Because He knows what the field contains. He knows the potential that is in us. He knows the pearl that is hidden in the field, and He will find it. If we will let Him.

Let him. Let Jesus have His way. It will be worth it.

Accepted in the Beloved

God has made us accepted in the Beloved?

How, you ask? Through His own beloved Son, we are accepted. He reigns, and we reign in Him, and we are the righteousness of God by proxy. If you accept Him. If you believe in Him.

God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, shall not be left alone, shall not be left to themselves to die, shall not be forsaken, but shall have eternal, everlasting, timeless, permanent, unchanging, glorious life, redemption, salvation, hope, joy, peace, newness of being, rebirth, sanctification, revival.

In him and through him and to him are all things.

Where is there room for a lack of self-esteem, when God himself esteems you so highly that He would die for you?
In fact He did esteem you so highly that He did die for you.

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”

Yet Jesus Christ died for you, because He esteemed you that much. Because He loved you that much,
He poured out every last drop of His precious blood, in order to make you accepted and acceptable to God.

In the light of that… where is there any room for self-doubt? Self-condemnation? Despair?

Jesus Christ died for you, He died for me.

Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will rise upon you.

Walk in the light as He is in the light!! …if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

All sin, all unrighteousness, everything that is not right… made right
everything that is not whole… made whole
darkness… made light

In Him, and through Him and to Him

Amen

A time for fasting

When faced with overwhelming odds, or even what seem to be overwhelming odds, and the impossibility of circumstance or the torment of the promise of God in the face of the inescapable rawness of reality (read: against all hope, Abraham in hope believed) we have two choices.

(a) Give up, i.e. “Fear”, as in we’ve given in to fear
(b) Persevere, i.e. “Do not be afraid”

What to do, how to “persevere” in an impossible task? There seems nothing for it _but_ to give up. When the enemy of our souls seems to have the upper hand, and we just don’t know how to walk in faith… we just don’t have the answers…

Thats the time for prayer and fasting. Jesus said that his disciples would fast when he was taken from them. (by analogy to a bridegroom and his friends).

Sometimes, the presence of God, the bridegroom, the tangible sense of God’s impending victory in the face of the blackness…. is gone, utterly overwhelmed by the gloom. What then?

We fast and pray. That is the hour that is at hand, that is what the church is facing when we just cannot see the way. Not in a haphazard, disorganized way. Not irresponsibly, without an awareness of the cost involved with fasting. Not without a purpose. But because he calls us to fast.

Now is a time for fasting. As the word says in Hosea 10

Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

Peace and stability

Before a sailboat makes a long journey (or any journey) if it is to have any hope of making it through the storm, or even to operate in normal conditions without behaving erratically, it is essential that the boat be fitted with the proper ballast.

What is the ballast?  Well, for a start it’s something that has to be brought into the ship by an act of the will on the part of the ship’s crew.  It’s something that has to be maintained.  If a ship is carrying less cargo, it needs less ballast.  Perhaps the ship just needs to find some cargo–something to do–to solve it’s stability problems.  Maybe the ship needs to jettison some of the useless lightweight junk and leftover rotten cargo that’s down at the bottom of the hold and have a good clean up so that there’s room for the right material for the job.

What is the ballast that we need to bring stability into our lives?  What do we specifically need to search for, and bring into our ship?  I’m not sure I have the answer.  The quick answer is to say that the ballast is the word of God.  There’s no doubt that’s a part of it, but I think it’s more than that.

Whatever it is, it has the following qualities:

1. We have to search for it
2. It’s our responsibility to fill the ship up with it– the right kind and the right amount
3. That (1 and 2) takes some effort on our part
4. If we’re not stable, we don’t have the right ballast

One thing for sure is, that in these days that are coming, we need peace (in ourselves) and we need stability, and we need to ask God how to get it and get to work.

Addendum:

OK, I get it now. Ballast is something we get while we’re in port. If we’re out at sea,
unstable, not coping with the storms or even the threat of storms, we head to the nearest port. Once there, we seek help from the harbormaster who directs us in our search for the appropriate ballast. We stay in the port for as long as is necessary, and we spend time at the port negotiating for and sourcing the best, correct ballast, and once the harbormaster gives the OK, we head our to sea again.

It means: stop what you’re doing, spend time with the Lord, allow Him to provide you with the wisdom, strength, scriptures, prayers, tasks (for cargo is a form of ballast) and whatever you need until it’s time to go to sea again. Then make sure you head out on the journey when you know it’s time.

The other thing is this: why take a journey at all? Why not stay in port?

Because that’s not what a boat is built for. A boat is only happy, fulfilled, satisfied in it’s purpose if it’s out on the ocean. How are you going to catch any fish if you don’t go out on the ocean?

And finally, how are you going to help all those lost, confused, unstable ships out there floundering on the waves, get back to safety?

The Ministry of the Spirit

I wrote yesterday about asking (and keeping on asking), seeking (and keeping on seeking), and keeping on believing…

Today, I was thinking… well, that’s all well and good, but surely there is a human limit to asking, seeking and believing.

Surely there is a point at which the human spirit says “Enough”, like Elijah, and simply can’t take it any more.

I’ve written about “why, God, why” and “when, God, when”

But I’ve come to realize we’re not talking about human possibilities here. God is disciplining us as sons (and daughters), first of all, by bringing us to our knees, and second of all by keeping us on our knees for what seems like (and probably is) an inhuman length of time.

“Why, God, Why?”, we cry, “When, God, When!”

“To what possible end?” our soul cries out “Show me your glory”

And the glory is coming. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. The big question is, when it comes, will you be ready? Jesus talks about the wise and foolish virgins. Just how much oil are you keeping in your lamp as you await the king? Are you getting tired? Fed up? Or are you keeping your lamps trimmed in time for the Master’s return, no matter what.

By the grace of God, and by grace alone, as we await the glory, through the “Dark night of the soul” (crying “When, God, When?”, and “Why, God, Why?”) we will remember to fill our lamps with oil. For what purpose, we don’t know, but we await the Masters return. Simply because he says he’s coming back. We trim the wicks, prepare our hearts, and we earnestly wait.

Yet there is a point at which it is humanly possible to wait no longer. That is where the ministry of the Spirit (2Cor 3,4) kicks in:

if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious… how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

…we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

…But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

…We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed …that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body…

Hard pressed, but not crushed. God knows our limits. He is sustaining is as we seek him, and remember it is not us who decides when the seasons of our lives begin, and when they end, it is him:

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

Oceans will Part (Part Two)… Hope Will Rise

Hope will Rise

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be opened, that we might know the hope of our calling… to the Romans (and to us) Paul writes:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The thing about hope—true hope—the hope that we wear as a helmet, the helmet of salvation; this hope, which gives us strength to believe (against all hope), can not be crushed by circumstances.  This hope, which overflows by the power of the Holy Spirit, will not stop flowing. This hope will rise, against all odds, against all opposition.  Greater is He that is in you, the power that gives you hope, than He who is in the world. There truly is no devil in hell that can stop the power of hope.

It’s coming: a tsunami of reality, a tsunami of joy, a tsunami of peace, a tsunami of glory…

Glory Shown

“Show me Your glory”, Abraham prayed

Paul prayed “That you may know the glory of his inheritance in the saints”

The last prayer of David “Let the whole earth be filled with your glory.”

As you open my eyes to the work of your hand

It’s not up to us.  We pray; He hears.  We cry out; He answers. We ask; He freely gives.

Call upon the Name of the Lord, and be saved.

Call upon Him in trouble, Call upon Him when things are going well, Call upon him when things are going bad.  Call upon the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Call upon the Lord, and He will answer you and show you great and marvellous things that you do not know (Jer 33:3).

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously and without reproach (James 1), without favour, without preference.  He gives to all.  To as many as receive him, He gives the right to become children of God (John 1)

It is not the healthy who need a Doctor, but the sick.

O Lord heal! O Lord forgive! cries the Psalmist.

Jesus came to give sight to the blind.  Lord, open my eyes to the work of your hand.

Oceans will part at the whisper of Your call

Not the shout, the whisper.  God came to Elijah in the cave… not in the fire, not in the wind but as a still small voice.  God spoke into the darkness, and there was light.  God spoke to Moses, and the Red Sea parted.

God whispers and the Nations tremble.  God whispers through our prayers, and the demons flee.

Only, keep on believing.

A mustard seed of faith, and the mountains fall into the sea.

In my life, Your will be done.

That means my will takes a back seat.  That means seeking God until he shows us the way.  That means asking, seeking, knocking, believing, receiving.  The mustard seed of faith, the word, is the key.

Ask, and keep on asking…

Seek, and keep on seeking…

Knock and keep on knocking…

Have faith in God!  Only believe…

Let it be done, according to your faith.

The just shall live by faith.   Persevere!

Your will be done, O Lord, on earth, as it is in heaven…

Jesus, open my eyes to the work of your hands…

Strength in Weakness

Isaiah 40: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak”.

Consider Hannah: Almost everyone has heard of Hannah, but whoever heard of Penninah? Yet in Hannah’s day, it was the other way round.

Hannah’s fame was such that when God through the prophet Isaiah, that “more are the children of the desolate woman” (referring to God’s blessing to the barren woman), God’s people would have immediately thought of the story of Hannah.

Hannah was a barren woman, without children. More than that, she was persecuted by her husband’s other (we’ll save discussion of polygamy for another day) wife, the not-so-barren, childbearing (and don’t you forget it) Penninah. She was not only barren, she was desolate, hurting and pained. Constantly reminded of her failure, aggravated by the success of her peer, she bore the reproach of her barrenness and it was killing her. Her sadness showed on her face.

Hannah, however, sought the face of God. She went to the tabernacle to make her sacrifice. She would not let go until God blessed her. She did not give in when the clueless High Priest of the day, Eli, mistook her grieving and crying out to the Lord for drunkenness, and rebuked her. Almost to get rid of her, Eli announces to her “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”

Immediately, Hannah’s countenance changed. God imparted strength to her, in her weakness, and with the strength came miraculous grace to change the situation and to change the world.

Incredibly, especially given the apostacy of the priesthood of the day, God does indeed grant Hannah’s petition. It wouldn’t be the last Eli would hear from Hannah either.

Hannah’s pain and weakness became her strength. Her song celebrates this:

I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

“The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

The barren has borne seven, God’s number for completeness. The barren’s faithfulness results in the birth of Samuel, a true prophet after God’s own heart… and she who has many children? Penninah? Panini? Pa… who?

Not that there should be a cause for gloating. No, there is never cause for that. There is, however, always cause to celebrate God’s faithfulness.

Today is the day of God’s favour. Today is the day of salvation.

Receive the strength of God, recall Hannah’s words today, even as you stumble:

“Those who stumbled are girded with strength”

The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered a little while,
will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

So you’ve failed? So you’re weak? So those mountains keep looking bigger? So what?

Have faith in God. Only keep on believing.

God himself will restore you.

Have a look at the video:

Wait for Him… Abide in Him

I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 30 today; God promises us rest if we turn to Him:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength
but you would have none of it.

How hard is it for us to do that… and when trouble strikes how easy it is to look to the tangible: our own resources, the resources of society, our friends, our employers, our workplaces, our education, our family. Yet in times like these where are we to turn when these fail us?

You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Isaiah prophesied this when times were tough: Assyria was breathing down the neck of God’s people, and captivity beckoned. Rather like today. As captivity beckons, who do we turn to?

“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge. who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;

…

Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.

The effort involved in “travelling to Egypt”, to attain the “useless” help of the arm of the flesh, is just not worth it.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

What to do, then, in times of trouble. Obviously, not nothing. No, we are to seek the Lord:

…the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you,
saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God himself will send the help, the teachers that we need.

Though he gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, as soon as he hears, he will answer us. As soon as he hears. Has he heard from you today?

The Double Portion

Ever felt like you’ve had enough? I have

Ever felt like life just isn’t fair?  I have

Ever felt that life doubly isn’t fair, because you trusted God with your life, and you felt as if God let you down somehow?  I have

Ever decided that God’s promises didn’t apply, at least not to you, at least not on this side of eternity? I have

Ever gotten mad with God because the evidence of His goodness was lost in the badness of life? I have

Ever reached that “Comfortably numb” place of “whatever” indifference?  I have

Ever felt like ripping up those bits of paper where you wrote down the things God said He was going to do in you and through you?  I have

But yet today I’ve been drawn again to God’s word, and to what He says to us again and again, and I’m forced to admit, as the weight of His word presses down upon me (it’s a good weight) that I’ve been wrong.

God is faithful to His word.  He hasn’t forgotten us.  He will do what He said He would do in my life.

“In my life, Your will be done”

God says to His people Israel, in perhaps one of their darkest hours, in exile in Babylon, a pagan nation:

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the LORD’s hand
Double for all her sins.”

And again

you shall be named the priests of the LORD,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.

Instead of your shame you shall have double honor
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

First, God promises comfort.  Our warfare is accomplished.  We have a great high priest who has carried our griefs and borne our sorrows.  Our sins have been paid for, in duplicate.

Then, not only do we have twice the pardon we deserve, on top of this, God promises us twice the blessing.

Again, God speaks through the prophet Zechariah:

Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you.

Prisoner of hope.  Does that sound familiar?   Are you a prisoner of the hopes and dreams that God gave you years ago, that even now, you’re still awaiting their fulfilment?

Even today, He declares that He will restore double to you… if you simply return to the Stronghold.  Return to the Name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

“The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.”

“Salvation belongs to our God” we sing in a quavering voice, as if “hopefully” we can just make it to the end of our life and squeak into heaven.  As if “Salvation” was something that we might just be fortunate enough to accede to, if we just hang in there long enough, scraping by on the few crumbs that God’s given us for now, that just might be enough to get by if we’re lucky.

No!  Salvation means so much more than that.  It means hope, life, blessing, fulfillment now!!   That’s the “helmet” of Salvation that strikes utter terror into the camp of the enemy, when he sees that holy hat of war placed on the heads of the soldiers of the Almighty.

Why then, do we not yet see it?  Why do we not yet see the double portion, the back-pay, God’s favour, yet?

Perhaps that’s not really a question we should be asking, but it could be this simple:

James says “You have not, because you ask not”

Jesus says “Whatever you ask in My Name, I will do it”

Perhaps we’re luke warm?   Perhaps our love has gotten cold?  Perhaps we just need to get over ourselves and back to the throne of grace.

We might need some wisdom from God to get the answers.   We might need to seek Him for the answers.

But the truth remains.   God will give us the double portion.  It’s in His word, and He will fulfill His word.

Are we expecting it?  Why not?  It’s in His word, and it’s for us.

Forget that sanctimonious carry-on “Oh, that’s for the faith people”, “Oh thats the health and wealth gospel”, “Oh I’m suffering for Jesus”, “Oh, the thorn in the flesh”  etc. (boring to go on, you know what I mean)

No its the gospel Gospel, and it’s for you and I.  Perhaps we have not because we ask not.